If you have an Android, your photos may disappear in a few weeks – Do this now
Every day, thousands of phone cameras click to capture good times. We can immortalize our best memories, from family vacations to our baby’s first steps, thanks to our phone. In fact, a recent study found that around 85% of all photos are snapped from our phones.
This means you’ll want to back up those precious pictures you’re taking. If you save your photos to the cloud, you might think you’re in the clear. Unfortunately, that’s not true. Google Photos recently ended its unlimited free storage. Tap or click here for details. And if you use an Android, we have some bad news for you.
Samsung Cloud is being shut down, which could erase your data if you don’t save your library now. Read on to find out why this is happening, what you can do about it and the deadlines you need to watch out for.
Take action before Sept. 30
Since Samsung is merging with Google’s services, your Samsung Cloud will soon disappear. On the bright side, you can move your data to Microsoft OneDrive without paying a penny. But you’ll need to act quickly.
Depending on where you live, you’re in one of two groups. Your group number depends on the country you chose when you signed up for your Samsung account. If you’re in the U.S., you’re in Group 1, which also includes users from the U.K. and Australia.
Group 2 is much larger than the first. It includes Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rice and more. Tap or click here to see which group each country is slotted into.
Here are the deadlines to watch out for:
- If you’re in Group 1, you’re cut off by Sept. 30
- If you’re in Group 2, you have until Nov. 30
Despite these cutoff dates, we recommend backing up your data as soon as possible. Samsung had said it might delete your data before the official end date, so don’t wait!
Here are some places you can back up your Samsung Cloud gallery to
Luckily, it only takes a few minutes to transfer your data to Microsft OneDrive. Usually, you’ll only get 5 GB of free storage, but Samsung users are getting a free bonus to make sure everything transfers over before their data gets torched.
It’s not free forever, though. You’ll get the free extra storage for 12 months before you have to pay to upgrade. Its cheapest plan is $1.99/mo, while the most expensive is $99.99/year for up to six people. The cost depends on how much data you’re storing, so if you have 12,000 images or more, expect to break open your wallet.
If you want some other options, we found three you might like.
1. Google Photos
In the past, Google gave its users unlimited storage for free. Sadly, those sweet days of free space are just a twinkle in the distant past. But still, 15GB of free storage space is nothing to sneeze at.
If you want to upgrade your cloud storage to 100GB, expect to pay $1.99 per month. You can even expand storage to up to 2TB for $9.99 per month. Google One isn’t a costly upgrade, but it’s pretty different from the company’s previous offerings.
Tap or click here for 20 ways to make the most out of Google Photos.
2. Amazon Photos
If you already enjoy Amazon Prime’s many benefits, here’s another you might not know about. All Amazon customers automatically get 5GB of free storage, according to its website.
The deal is sweeter if you’re an Amazon Prime member since you’ll get free unlimited photo storage as a side benefit. You can also get 5GB of extra storage for documents and videos.
If you’re willing to spend $19.99 a year, you can get 100GB of storage. (That’s just $1.66 a month.) If you want 1 TB, you can pay $6.99 a month.
However, if you aren’t an Amazon Prime member, don’t use this option. It’s a good way to save money if you’re already shelling out for Prime. But if you aren’t, you’ll have to pay a yearly cost of $119, which is way too much to pay for photo storage.
3. IDrive
Our sponsor IDrive is an online cloud backup service that securely backs up your data across many devices. We like to call it your one-stop solution to photo backup, which is often a complex process that gobbles up a ton of time. It protects your iPhone, Android, PC, iPhone, iPad and Mac devices with just one account.
Not only can IDrive back up your photos, but it can also back up your important files. Save a whopping 90% when you sign up at IDrive.com and use the promo code “Kim” at checkout.
Keep reading
How to find and remove duplicate photos
7 ways to privately share your photos
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Tags: Amazon Photos, Android, duplicate photos, Google One, Google Photos, memories, Microsoft OneDrive
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